Bird watchers enjoyed a treat when thousands of starlings performed a tea-time spectacular.
The sight of up to 10,000 starlings doing an aerial dance, known as a murmuration, was visible at dusk on Tuesday near Gretna.
They were captured by Press Association photographer Owen Humphreys, who said: “The shapes they formed were spectacular, making a gorilla, two dolphins and maybe a giant bird.”
He added: “There was also a bird of prey, probably a buzzard, which seemed to make the starlings fly even more.”
Chris Collett, a spokesman for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, said: “There are several theories as to why starlings gather in this way as they prepare to roost for the night..embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; padding-top: 30px; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; height: auto; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; }
“Some have said it is for fun or for communication, but the most likely reason is for survival.”
He continued: “Despite being one of our most common species, starlings are red listed, which means they are of high conservation concern. This is because their numbers in the Britain have decreased by 66% since the mid 1970s.
“It is a similar story across the rest of northern mainland Europe.”